"Smile When You're Lying"

New from Henry Holt: Smile When You're Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer by Chuck Thompson.

About the book, from the author's website:

From Bangkok to Bogotá, a hilarious behind-the-brochures tour of picture-perfect locales, dangerous destinations, and overrated hellholes from a guy who knows the truth about travel.

Travel writer, editor, and photographer Chuck Thompson has spent more than a decade traipsing through thirty-five (and counting) countries across the globe, and he’s had enough. Enough of the half-truths demanded by magazine editors, enough of the endlessly recycled clichés regarded as good travel writing, and enough of the ugly secrets fiercely guarded by the travel industry. But mostly, he’s had enough of returning home from assignments and leaving the most interesting stories and the most provocative insights on the editing-room floor. From getting swindled in Thailand to running afoul of customs inspectors in Belarus, from defusing hostile Swedish rockers backstage in Germany to a closed-door meeting with travel execs telling him why he’s about to be fired once again, Thompson’s no-holds-barred style is refreshing, invigorating, and all those other adjectives travel writers use to describe spa vacations where the main attraction is a daily colonic.

Smile When You’re Lying takes readers on an irresistible series of adventures in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and beyond; details the effects of globalization on the casual traveler and ponders the future of travel as we know it; and offers up a treasure trove of travel-industry secrets collected throughout a decidedly speckled career.

"The Great Funk"

New from Farrar Straus Giroux: The Great Funk: Falling Apart and Coming Together (on a Shag Rug) in the Seventies by Thomas Hine.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the sixties, as the nation anticipated the conquest of space, the defeat of poverty, and an end to injustice at home and abroad, no goal seemed beyond America’s reach.

Then the seventies arrived — bringing oil shocks and gas lines, the disgrace and resignation of a president, defeat in Vietnam, terrorism at the 1972 Munich Olympics, urban squalor, bizarre crimes, high prices, and a bad economy. The country fell into a great funk.

But when things fall apart, you can take the fragments and make something fresh. Avocado kitchens and Earth Shoes may have been ugly, but they signaled new modes of seeing and being. The first generation to see Earth from space found ways to make life’s everyday routines — eating, keeping warm, taking out the trash — meaningful, both personally and globally. And many decided to reinvent themselves.

In Populuxe, a “textbook of consumerism in the Push Button Age” (Alan J. Adler, Los Angeles Times), Thomas Hine scrutinized the looks and life of the 1950s and 1960s, revealing the hopes and fears expressed in that era’s design. In the same way, The Great Funk: Falling Apart and Coming Together (on a Shag Rug) in the Seventies maps a complex era by looking at its ideas, feelings, sex, fashions, textures, gestures, colors, demographic forces, artistic expressions, and other phenomena that shaped our lives. Hine gets into the shoes and heads of those who experienced the seventies — exploring their homes, feeling the beat of their music, and scanning the ads that incited their desires.

But The Great Funk is more than a lavish catalogue of seventies culture: it’s a smart, informed, lively look at the “Me decade” through the eyes of the man House & Garden called “America’s sharpest design critic.”

"Souls of Angels"

New from Random House: Souls of Angels by Thomas Eidson.

About the book, from the publisher:

Set amid the haciendas and fragrant orange groves of Los Angeles in the 1880s, Souls of Angels is an enthralling story of family and faith, loyalty and betrayal.

When Isadora Lugo learns her that father has been convicted of murder, she reluctantly travels home for the first time in ten years. At age seventeen she’d fled her troubled home life in Los Angeles to serve Christ in India as Sister Ria, never planning to return. Yet as a child, Isadora had promised her dying mother that in times of trouble she would care for her father, the eccentric Don Maximiato Lugo. And trouble had indeed come. Following a haphazard investigation and speedy trial for the brutal killing of a local prostitute, Don awaits his fate in the family hacienda, sketching and painting and sinking into madness.

Believing it is too late to save her father’s life, Sister Ria urges him to confess his sins and save his soul. But he only mocks her efforts. Those around Don Lugo–the loyal Mexicans who consider him a saint; his eldest daughter, Milagros; and the family’s longtime housekeeper, Aba – are adamant about the patrón’s innocence.

For her own peace of mind, Sister Ria seeks evidence of her father’s innocence or guilt in the side streets and back alleys of Mexican Los Angeles. But every clue she finds hints at something darker and more sinister and weakens her faith, as her very life is threatened by an ominous unseen figure that shadows her every move.

Souls of Angels captures the vibrant and conflicting cultures of Anglo and Hispanic Los Angeles at the end of the nineteenth century. Brilliantly balancing emotion and suspense, Thomas Eidson takes us deep into the heart of an extraordinary woman as she faces the ultimate test of family loyalty and risks her soul to uncover the truth.

"A Hell of a Woman"

New from Busted Flush Press: A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir edited by Megan Abbott with an introduction by Val McDermid.

About the book, from the publisher:

Featuring original stories by Lynne Barrett, Charlotte Carter, Christa Faust, Alison Gaylin, Sara Gran, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Vicki Hendricks, Naomi Hirahara, Annette Meyers, Donna Moore, Vin Packer, Rebecca Pawel, Cornelia Read, Lisa Respers France, S. J. Rozan, Sandra Scoppettone, Zoë Sharp, Sarah Weinman, Ken Bruen, Stona Fitch, Allan Guthrie, Charlie Huston, Eddie Muller, Daniel Woodrell.

"As a statement on contemporary noir and as a barometer of the culture, A Hell of A Woman tells the whole story and then some."
—Woody Haut, London-based journalist and author of Neon Noir: Contemporary American Crime Fiction

"The next time some jackass smirks and tells me that women can't write noir, I'm going to knock him upside the head with a copy of A Hell of a Woman. Megan Abbott, our leading Queenpin of crime, has assembled a powerhouse collection of noir by the best dames in the business. (And the stories by the dudes ain't half bad, either.) I've fallen hard for this antho, even though it's destined to clean out my savings account, sleep with my best friend and break my heart."
—Duane Swierczynski, author of The Blonde and Severance Package

"A Hell of a Woman is a brilliant and riveting new take on noir — a 21st century Female noir. Tales of resilient women faced with life's cards, shuffling and dealing the deck their own way. The tensions notch, the plots twist in a stranglehold, and it's one hell of an anthology."
—Cara Black, best-selling author of Murder on the Ile-Saint Louis

"Beautiful, bold and bloody — the dames in this collection rock, and when they do, heads roll. This anthology of compelling stories about members of the 'fairer sex' with a proclivity for deadly schemes is a must-read for all lovers of noir. Each story is a gem."
—Carolyn Haines, author of Penumbra and Fever Moon

"Irreligion"

New from Farrar Straus Giroux and Hill and Wang: Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up by John Allen Paulos.

About the book, from the publisher:

A Lifelong Unbeliever Finds No Reason to Change His Mind

Are there any logical reasons to believe in God? Mathematician and bestselling author John Allen Paulos thinks not. In Irreligion he presents the case for his own worldview, organizing his book into twelve chapters that refute the twelve arguments most often put forward for believing in God’s existence. The latter arguments, Paulos relates in his characteristically lighthearted style, “range from what might be called golden oldies to those with a more contemporary beat. On the playlist are the firstcause argument, the argument from design, the ontological argument, arguments from faith and biblical codes, the argument from the anthropic principle, the moral universality argument, and others.” Interspersed among his twelve counterarguments are remarks on a variety of irreligious themes, ranging from the nature of miracles and creationist probability to cognitive illusions and prudential wagers. Special attention is paid to topics, arguments, and questions that spring from his incredulity “not only about religion but also about others’ credulity.” Despite the strong influence of his day job, Paulos says, there isn’t a single mathematical formula in the book.

"Gods Behaving Badly"

New from Little, Brown: Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips.

About the book, from the publisher:

Being a Greek god is not all it once was. Yes, the twelve gods of Olympus are alive and well in the twenty-first century, but they are crammed together in a London townhouse-and none too happy about it. And they've had to get day jobs: Artemis as a dog-walker, Apollo as a TV psychic, Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, Dionysus as a DJ. Even more disturbingly, their powers are waning, and even turning mortals into trees-a favorite pastime of Apollo's-is sapping their vital reserves of strength.

Soon, what begins as a minor squabble between Aphrodite and Apollo escalates into an epic battle of wills. Two perplexed humans, Alice and Neil, who are caught in the crossfire, must fear not only for their own lives, but for the survival of humankind. Nothing less than a true act of heroism is needed-but can these two decidedly ordinary people replicate the feats of the mythical heroes and save the world?

"The Anatomist"

New from Ballantine Books: The Anatomist: A True Story of Gray's Anatomy by Bill Hayes.

About the book, from the publisher:

The classic medical text known as Gray’s Anatomy is one of the most famous books ever written. Now, on the 150th anniversary of its publication, acclaimed science writer and master of narrative nonfiction Bill Hayes has written the fascinating, never-before-told true story of how this seminal volume came to be. A blend of history, science, culture, and Hayes’s own personal experiences, The Anatomist is this author’s most accomplished and affecting work to date.

With passion and wit, Hayes explores the significance of Gray’s Anatomy and explains why it came to symbolize a turning point in medical history. But he does much, much more. Uncovering a treasure trove of forgotten letters and diaries, he illuminates the astonishing relationship between the fiercely gifted young anatomist Henry Gray and his younger collaborator H. V. Carter, whose exquisite anatomical illustrations are masterpieces of art and close observation. Tracing the triumphs and tragedies of these two extraordinary men, Hayes brings an equally extraordinary era – the mid-1800s – unforgettably to life.

But the journey Hayes takes us on is not only outward but inward – through the blood and tissue and organs of the human body – for The Anatomist chronicles Hayes’s year as a student of classical gross anatomy, performing with his own hands the dissections and examinations detailed by Henry Gray 150 years ago. As Hayes’s acquaintance with death deepens, he finds his understanding and appreciation of life deepening in unexpected and profoundly moving ways.

The Anatomist is more than just the story of a book. It is the story of the human body, a story whose beginning and end we all know and share but that, like all great stories, is infinitely rich in between.

"99 Coffins"

New from Three Rivers Press: 99 Coffins: A Historical Vampire Tale by David Wellington.

About the book, from the publisher:

Laura Caxton vowed never to face them again. The horror of what the vampires did is too close, the wounds too fresh. But when Jameson Arkeley, broken and barely recognizable, comes to her with an unfathomable, unholy discovery, her resolve crumbles.

Arkeley leads Caxton to a tomb in Gettysburg recently excavated by a local archaeology professor. While the town, with its legendary role in the Civil War’s worst battle, is no stranger to cemeteries, this one is remarkably, eerily different. In it lie 100 coffins — 99 of them occupied by vampires, who, luckily, are missing their hearts. But one of the coffins is empty and smashed to pieces.

Who is the missing vampire? Does he have access to the 99 hearts that, if placed back in the bodies of their owners, could reanimate an entire bloodthirsty army? How did the vampires end up there, undisturbed and undiscovered for 150 years? The answer lies in Civil War documents that contain sinister secrets about the newly found coffins — secrets that Laura Caxton is about to uncover as she is thrown into a deadly, gruesome mission of saving an entire town from a mass invasion of the undead....

Visit David Wellington's website.

My Book, The Movie: 99 Coffins.

"The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes"

New from Free Press: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes: The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by Andrew Lycett.

About the book, from the publisher:

Though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's name is recognized the world over, for decades the man himself has been overshadowed by his better understood creation, Sherlock Holmes, who has become one of literature's most enduring characters. Based on thousands of previously unavailable documents, Andrew Lycett, author of the critically acclaimed biography Dylan Thomas, offers the first definitive biography of the baffling Conan Doyle, finally making sense of a long-standing mystery: how the scientifically minded creator of the world's most rational detective himself succumbed to an avid belief in spiritualism, including communication with the dead.

Conan Doyle was a man of many contradictions. Always romantic, energetic, idealistic and upstanding, he could also be selfish and fool-hardy. Lycett assembles the many threads of Conan Doyle's life, including the lasting impact of his domineering mother and his wayward, alcoholic father; his affair with a younger woman while his wife lay dying; and his nearly fanatical pursuit of scientific data to prove and explain various supernatural phenomena. Lycett reveals the evolution of Conan Doyle's nature and ideas against the backdrop of his intense personal life, wider society and the intellectual ferment of his age. In response to the dramatic scientific and social transformations at the turn of the century, he rejected traditional religious faith in favor of psychics and séances -- and in this way he embodied all of his late-Victorian, early-Edwardian era's ambivalence about the advance of science and the decline of religion.

The first biographer to gain access to Conan Doyle's newly released personal archive -- which includes correspondence, diaries, original manuscripts and more -- Lycett combines assiduous research with penetrating insight to offer the most comprehensive, lucid and sympathetic portrait yet of Conan Doyle's personal journey from student to doctor, from world-famous author to ardent spiritualist.

"Macachiavellian Intelligence"

New from the University of Chicago Press: Macachiavellian Intelligence: How Rhesus Macaques and Humans Have Conquered the World by Dario Maestripieri.

About the book, from the publisher:

Judged by population size and distribution, homo sapiens are clearly the most successful primates. A close second, however, would be rhesus macaques, who have adapted to — and thrived in — such diverse environments as mountain forests, dry grasslands, and urban sprawl. Scientists have spent countless hours studying these opportunistic monkeys, but rhesus macaques have long been overshadowed in the public eye by the great apes, who, because of their greater intelligence, are naturally assumed to have more to teach us, both about other primates and about humans as well.

Dario Maestripieri thinks it is high time we shelve that misperception, and with Macachiavellian Intelligence he gives rhesus macaques their rightful turn in the spotlight. The product of more than twenty years studying these fascinating creatures, Macachiavellian Intelligence caricatures a society that is as much human as monkey, with hierarchies and power struggles that would impress Machiavelli himself. High-status macaques, for instance, maintain their rank through deft uses of violence and manipulation, while altruism is almost unknown and relationships are perpetually subject to the cruel laws of the market. Throughout this eye-opening account, Maestripieri weds his thorough knowledge of macaque behavior to his abiding fascination with human society and motivations. The result is a book unlike any other, one that draws on economics as much as evolutionary biology, politics as much as primatology.

Rife with unexpected connections and peppered with fascinating anecdotes, Macachiavellian Intelligence has as much to teach us about humans as it does about macaques, presenting a wry, rational, and wholly surprising view of our humanity as seen through the monkey in the mirror.